The Best Link-Building Strategies for E-commerce

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is crucial for the success of your e-commerce business.

As of 2023, it is estimated that there are more than 26 million e-commerce websites. In order to compete or even just be on an equal footing with the other e-commerce websites, you need to be “seen” or to have your brand recognized.

The best way to achieve this is to have a higher rank in SERP ( Search Engine Results Pages). A higher rank means being listed at the top of the page giving your site a higher chance of being clicked. That is why certain keywords or phrases are actively used for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to bring about a higher SERP rank result.

Link building is also another SEO strategy that works magnificently for your e-commerce site. Search engine algorithms primarily base the relevance of your webpage on the number of links that it has. More links mean there is value in your content.

A backlink is a hyperlink in a website that points back to your website. Oftentimes, backlinks are used to refer to your site as the source of information or products. Using backlinks suggests to search engines that other sites are vouching for you. This creates visibility and credibility for your store.

On-Page Link-Building Strategies

You can start your link-building for e-commerce by optimizing your own website or store. This is easier to do since you are just linking pages on your own website or store.

• Internal Linking

  An Internal link is any link on any page on your website that points to another page on the same website. Your users use these links to navigate your website to find what they need. Examples of internal links are site navigation tools like menus and links to related articles found within the website.

  Internal links improve user engagement and can further attract potential customers. A positive user experience would definitely appeal to more customers.

  • E-commerce websites can have numerous product pages. Navigating the site will be easier for the users because they will be able to find what they are looking for without going through the whole content of your page.
  • Internal linking can be used to highlight new products, promotions, and sales.
  • The use of internal linking for e-commerce SEO. Various search engines use links to crawl sites. They render the pages and follow the links. This enables them to understand the relationship between the contents of the site. This in turn points to the search engines whose pages have similar topics, content, or products. This brings in importance and value to the page. This action will further increase the ranking potential for each page.

  Here are some internal link-building strategies to improve your websites or store;

  • Product Widget – by using product widgets you’ll be able to “recommend” additional products your users might be interested in.
  • Product Category – users might search for items by categories such as size, color, etc., By linking product pages that share the same attributes, your customers will have an easier time finding items they want
  • Related Searches – this is an excellent way to have anchor text links to product pages.

• Content Marketing and Guest Postings

  a. Content Marketing
  The content of your site will be the thing that will draw in traffic to your website. You need to attract and engage potential customers that will lead to conversions and sales. Your link-building strategies must include content that concentrates on the buyer’s journey to be able to boost your sales.

  According to Hubspot, 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. This is because high-quality content greatly improves SERP rankings.

  There is also an increase in conversion. This is shown in Semrush’s 2023 research, wherein 96% of e-commerce and retail companies have shown positive outcomes with their content marketing.

  This can be achieved by creating shareable free content that will keep your customers engaged. They will then in turn become loyal customers that will support your e-commerce business and share your content with their various social media platforms.

  A way to start link building for e-commerce is by having blogs or articles that have search term keywords relevant to your product or services. You need a comprehensive source of keywords and phrases to use in your articles.

  For example, if you own a travel agency, write an article or blog about the best cuisines found in different countries. Include links to travel packages that your agency offers. And then, when someone reads your article, they can be enticed to travel and check out your packages. Conversion and sale will then be achieved.

  E-commerce backlinks can also be attained. If the article or blog is well-written, a hotel or restaurant might include you as a resource link. This will add value to your page.

  b. Guest Posting
  Guest posting is all about writing articles for other blogs as guest contributors and having links on the article directing them to your website. This technique not only earns you backlinks but contributes to increasing customer engagement through content marketing.

  Keep in mind that you should focus on high-quality backlinks rather than low-quality ones. Low-quality backlinks refer to links that appear to be unrelated content. Their inclusion to the content seems forced and is added more to build volume than to add context.

  Aspire to produce blogs and articles that have value. Being a credible source for industry leaders is a great way to improve your e-commerce SEO. It builds credibility for your brand. Each high-quality backlink you have vouched for your brand’s or store’s integrity and trustworthiness.

  Look for guest posting opportunities. You can search online for websites looking for guest bloggers or online contributors. You need to look for relevant websites that are related to your product or services. Make sure they are credible sites that have a large amount of traffic. Prioritize websites that are already an authority in the industry to add credibility to your brand or store.

• Product Reviews and Testimonials

  Link building for e-commerce can also be done by having testimonials and product reviews on your website. This adds legitimacy to your brand and the quality of your products or services.

  Make sure that your website offers customers’ reviews and testimonials. Motivate your customers to leave their own opinions about your products or services. Offer incentives like discounts or gift cards in return.

  Testimonials and review increases SERP ranking because you’ll always have new content that search engines will recognize as fresh and relevant.

  Social proof is still a key factor in choosing whether to buy a product or not. Your customers are more likely to believe other people who have used your product services themselves than anyone who is working for your company. Especially if these people are well-known or are experts in a certain industry.

  In this age of social media, influencers can sway people’s choices and opinions. Try to reach out to these influencers and collaborate.

  Gaining visibility and backlinks are the goal. Not only that, as you read customers’ reviews and testimonials, you’ll be able to learn new keywords for your e-commerce SEO.

Off-Page Link-Building Strategies

Link Building for e-commerce can also be achieved outside your webpage. This is by taking advantage of growing social media platforms.

• Social Media Engagement

  Social media is king.

  All kinds of platforms are available on every media device there is. It is inescapable and has been ingraining itself in our lives for some time now. It has been a point of contention how social media has been taking over. But, from the perspective of the e-commerce industry, it is a welcomed necessity.

  By sharing content on social media, you increase backlink opportunities. Social media has become the main distribution channel for various content. The domino effect goes like this. When you put out your content and it has gone viral, your engagement is sure to increase. And, increased engagement means traffic to your site. This increased traffic will be noticed by various search engines which will gain you a higher ranking in SERP.

  As of 2023, there are 4.95 billion social media users around the world. And, that number is increasing by the minute. Why not take advantage of this? Your audience and potential customers are already lined up for you.

  Engaging with your social media audience is very important. You need to actively participate in discussions to gain their likes, comments, shares and subscription. Provide links to your websites or product catalog in your social media accounts.

• Influencer Marketing

  If social media is king, then undoubtedly influencers are their queens.

  Influencers have tremendous sway over their fans. By being able to work with these influencers, there is almost a guarantee of conversion and sale.

  But, you can’t just work with any influencers. Be sure that the influencer you are going to collaborate with would represent your brand’s identity. Their social media personality should fit the niche your products or services belong to. It doesn’t hurt to research the influencer’s background to give you an idea of how to approach the collaboration.

  Co-creating content can increase your online visibility. You can have live streams or influencer takeovers. They can provide a fresh perspective to your products or brand offerings.

  Influence marketing can indirectly boost SEO by backlinks and increase brand awareness when a brand is mentioned on different platforms online. They can also drive traffic to your site.

• Building Relationships with Industry Partners

  There are approximately 26.5 million e-commerce sites in the world. You can look at them as being your competitors. But, a more constructive outlook would be that some of them can be your partners.

  You can choose to partner with other e-commerce stores for a mutually beneficial backlinking.

  Reach out to other e-commerce stores that have offerings that are similar to your store. They can be stored in the same industry as you. Ask them to have backlinks for your website and you’ll do the same for them.

  You can co-host events and any marketing campaigns together. You’ll be able to attract a larger number of participants and share the cost of the events.

  This will gain you added visibility and increase in ranking due to the backlinks. Link Building for e-commerce is also good for increasing your network of industry partners.

Technical SEO and Link Building

• Mobile-Friendly Website Design

  As of 2023, 85.74% of the world’s population owns a smartphone. If you look at it, that translates to 6.92 billion of people you have access to with your e-commerce store.

  It is therefore important that your e-commerce website is also optimized for mobile users. You need to make sure that the experience is easy, stress-free, and positive for whoever is going to visit your site. Every element of your website design must be of the finest quality. This goes more importantly for your visual elements. Especially your product catalog. You need the best background remover for editing purposes. And if you want a professional to do it for you, choose photo editing services that have an outstanding work history.

  Not only for design but you also need to consider your e-commerce SEO and link-building strategies for mobile search engines. Google’s mobile-first indexing has an impact on your SEO. Google will also crawl, index, and rank your site as a mobile user. If your site is not optimized and gives a less-than-stellar experience for mobile users, it can negatively affect your ranking.

• Site Speed Optimization

  Overall shopping experience can be negatively affected by slow-loading pages. There is nothing that stresses more people than staring at a screen and waiting for a page to load. More often than not people would just leave the site rather than wait for the page to load.

  Your site speed affects SEO. Search engines like Google count site speed as a ranking factor in their algorithm. Usually, slow loading time tends to cause people to abandon the site. This creates a bad experience. Google does not rank sites that give a bad user experience. Also, backlinks will be hard to gain because of the poor experience.

  Here are some techniques to speed up your load page.

  1. Limit HTTP requests by using CSS Sprites.
  2. Fix broken links immediately.
  3. Optimize Caching setup to reduce bandwidth.
  4. Remove Unnecessary cookies or reduce their size.
  5. Use image optimization tools to compress the image to reduce size.
  6. Choose file formats that are ideal for optimized loading time.

• Secure Website with HTTPS

  User experience not only talks about how one interacts with the website. It is not limited to user-friendly interfaces that favor usability and customer satisfaction. There is also the security aspect that needs to be considered and prioritized.

  People are now careful with regard to their personal information. They are aware of the various scams or illegitimate businesses that can gain access to their information. Trust is very important in building any business. Customers need reassurance that their safety is guaranteed whenever they take their business to your store.

  Google would often point out unsecured sites with a warning “This site may not be secure”. This turns away potential customers immediately.

  Obtaining an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate alleviates their fear. This is a security protocol that creates an encrypted connection between a web server and a web browser. E-commerce businesses need SSL certificates to keep customer information private and secure online transactions.

  You can purchase an SSL certificate from a certificate authority (CA) examples are GoDaddy, Namecheap, WPX Hosting, Comodo SSL Store, AlphaSSL, etc.

Conclusion

Link Building for e-commerce is strategic and arduous. It requires patience and a lot of networking. But, the hard work does pay off. You gain a lot of benefits. They are proven efficient tools for increasing visibility and your sales.

The main takeaway in link building is to take advantage of the number of people you can reach through various social media platforms. Work on your content. High-quality content attracts these people to your website. Not only do you attract customers, but other industry players would also notice you. Your own network grows as you increase your backlinks.

SEO should always be a priority. You don’t want to have an orphan website with no links leading to it. You’ll be lost in the fold. Be up to date with the latest techniques and try it out for yourself. You need to up your game if you want to survive in the e-commerce industry.

The strategies provided aim to increase visibility and sales. But like any strategy, some can be successful and some might not. This doesn’t mean that you stop. You just need to redirect.

Focus on the goals you want to accomplish and improve on these strategies. Take a chance and you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.